Chapter 16
Chapter 16
But such questions wouldn’t help him survive. What he needed wasn’t philosophical musing, but clean air, water, and food—all things abundant in the Glass Dome Mansion. To remain here, he had to prove his dexterity and quick wit. Fundamental questions could wait.
“The reason you deserve to die is because you neglected the care of the item, thereby displeasing Master Isaac…” The new staff member pushed all other thoughts from his mind.
***
A momentary blur of vision, a blink, and Arietta found herself in another place. She blinked again, confused. The room was dimly lit.
It was daytime. It felt like only a short time had passed since the break-in, yet the furniture seemed lower. She glanced around and noticed a scratch on the doorframe—the mark where Seia measured her daughter’s height every birthday. A recent scratch, made with a knife.
‘I’ve grown.’
She accepted the time jump without question.
The house was silent. Seia was out. While Seia had always taken Arietta along on her trading trips, she had recently begun leaving her at home. Perhaps it was because Arietta had started showing interest in Seia’s business.
Arietta felt she was old enough to learn how to haggle with the Downstream traders. She was also curious about Seia’s methods.
How did a young woman like her manage to acquire such valuable goods? She would have to learn these skills eventually, so why not start early? But Seia remained firm, repeating, “You’re not old enough to know yet.”
“And you won’t have to do this kind of thing. I’ll make sure of it.”
“How?”
“We’re leaving Downstream.”
Arietta tilted her head. Leaving Downstream? That was the ambition of everyone who lived in this wasteland, constantly looking over their shoulders, never relaxing.
But where would they go? Downstream was the only habitable place left on the contaminated surface. Leaving meant certain death from the poisoned air.
‘To Sky City? How? When?’
Seia simply stared at her daughter for a long moment, her eyes the clear blue of the sky before the Catastrophe.
“When you turn sixteen and are strong enough for a long journey.”
Seia never revealed how they would get there, but Arietta didn’t think it was a pipe dream. Seia was resolute, and sometimes, she would gaze into the distance with a look of longing. At those times, Arietta couldn’t help but recall the rumors about her mother.
‘That witch…’
Seia was often called a witch. People said she bewitched others.
‘They say she’s actually from Sky City.’
Downstream was symbolized by machines, while Sky City, high above, was associated with magic and alchemy. The people of Sky City believed that machine civilization had caused the contamination that crippled the surface. They had revived the long-abandoned arts of magic and alchemy, rejecting oil and engines.
The people of Downstream undoubtedly believed Seia was a Sky City sorceress, weaving spells on the surface dwellers. How else could they explain her remarkably smooth life, despite possessing all the disadvantages of a Downstream resident?
But Arietta believed her mother wasn’t a sorceress; she was simply resourceful. If she were a sorceress, Arietta would surely know.
‘No, that’s silly. Mother couldn’t possibly be from up there.’
She scoffed at herself and banished the word ‘witch’ from her thoughts.
“Haah…”
The house was boring without her mother. Arietta rolled around on the floor for a while before getting up. She decided to look outside and climbed to the attic. The small attic window was the only one Seia hadn’t boarded up.
She struggled to open the dusty window, revealing the Downstream alleyway. Crumbling walls, houses overgrown with mutated plants, sticky, damp ground. Not a pretty sight.
Still, sometimes a tenacious cat or bird, lucky enough to survive, would wander by, offering a moment of distraction. Arietta’s eyes followed such creatures.
But instead of a cat, she found something unexpected.
A group of boys, roughhousing.
Arietta leaned out slightly, trying to get a better look. It wasn’t a fight. It was a beating. And the victim was the same boy who had slapped her and run off after stealing the purifier.
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